Naka de Taiga
by SilverCivet
Summary: After the Shikon no tama was completed, something happened to kagome.  And who is this Demon who showed up in Kaede's village stealing meat?  R+R If I get some reviews i'll post he final chapter!
1. Prolouge

Prolouge  
  
It was a clear night in the Sengoku Jidai. The stars shone  
brilliantly like thousands of diamonds in the black sky.   
  
A peaceful village sat surrounded by a forest, it's  
inhabitants sleeping peacefully. The evening fires have  
long been extinguished and not a sound came from any  
of the huts.  
  
In a tree just outside the village perimeter, a pair of  
stormy blue eyes stare down at the village. The dark  
shadow snuck out of the tree and silently stalked  
towards the village.  
  
The beast lifted it's nose into the air and sniffed at the  
village houses. Catching a particular sent in the air, it  
creeps towards the hut the smell emanated from.   
Padding over to the flap on the door of the hut, the  
creature pushed it aside with it's nose, ears swiveling to  
the slightest sound.   
  
The inhabitants of the hut were sound asleep. Seeing  
this, the beast silently walked into the small hut. Spotting  
what it wanted, it creeped across the hut and takes a  
large piece of dried meat into it's mouth and quickly  
walks back out of the hut.   
  
Once reaching the door again, the beast took off towards the  
trees.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Well that was the prolouge. Tell me how it was! Review!! If   
no one likes it and reviews, I wont post more. 


	2. How it all began

Naka de Taiga  
Chapter 1  
  
  
The next morning, everyone awoke a few hours past  
the crack of dawn. Breakfast fires were started as the  
men went outside to do their daily work.  
  
In the hut at the edge of the village, an old miko  
stirred the rice in the fire pit. Behind her, a monk, a  
demon exterminator and a small kitsune yukai started to  
raise and stretch, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.  
  
"Ohayo, Kaede-san." Sango greeted tiredly.  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu Mina-san. Breakfast will be  
ready soon." Kaede replies.  
  
"Should we tell Inuyasha that breakfast is almost  
ready?" Shippo asked as he stood up.  
  
"He'll come back when he's hungry enough... He  
hasn't been the same since what happened two years  
ago...." Sango murmurs sadly.  
  
  
Miroku nods in agreement and puts his arm around  
Sango's shoulders. 'Yes, he hasn't been the same. None  
of us have been...'  
  
~Flashback~  
  
It was late spring, and everything was green and  
alive. A very pissed off hanyou stomped back towards  
the village. Kagome said she had to go home for a few  
days to take her "tests". Inuyasha, of course, tried to  
force her to stay. This produced the usual reaction from  
Kagome. She 'sat' him a few times.  
  
Inuyasha roughly threw the door flap aside and  
dropped onto his side by the fire pit, trailing a stream of  
curses behind him.  
  
Sango and Miroku exchanged knowing glances  
while Shippo bounded over to Inuyasha.  
  
"What happened Inuyasha? Did you swallow to  
much dirt?" He mocked poking Inuyasha's forehead.  
  
A vein popped out of Inuyasha's head. He scowled  
and hit Shippo hard on his head, causing a lump to form.  
  
"ITIE!!!!!" Shippo yelped running back over to the  
others holding his head.  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until a scream  
broke it. The shrill sound went as quickly as it came.  
  
Inuyasha jumped up alarmed and looked towards  
the direction the scream came from. "That was  
Kagome!" He shouted and ran towards the well.  
  
Sango grabbed her Boomerang as Miroku got his  
staff and they followed Inuyasha on Kirara.  
  
When Inuyasha reached the clearing, there was no  
one in sight. Sniffing the air, he caught two scents.   
Kagome's sweet sent was slightly old, about a few  
minutes to be exact. The other sent was slightly sweet as  
well but was more like a field of flowers after a thunder  
storm. Whereas Kagome's sent was like cherry blossoms  
in the spring.  
  
Inuyasha ran over to the well. Kagome's sent did  
not go into the well, so she must be around here  
somewhere. He sniffed around the well and stopped  
dead in his tracks at what he saw on the other side of  
the well's box. Kagome's uniform was on the ground,  
ripped to shreds. Slowly bending down, he picks up the  
tattered cloth.  
  
Kirara runs into the clearing and stops behind  
Inuyasha. Sango, Miroku and Shippo dismount her.  
  
"Did you find her?" Sango asked the crouching  
hanyou.  
  
Inuyasha stands up and holds out the pieces of cloth  
to them. "Something has happened to her, we have to  
find her quickly!" He replies in a worried tone.  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
'We searched for months on end, but found no sign  
of her. After a year of searching, we had to stop.'   
Miroku was brought out of his thoughts by a  
townswoman knocking on the wooden door frame of  
Kaede's hut.  
  
"Kaede-sama?" She pokes her head in the  
doorflap.  
  
"Hai?" Kaede replies as she slowly gets up.  
  
"Ano... A large piece of dried meat was stolen from  
our hut last night. We think it was a demon."  
  
"Honto? We haven't seen a demon in the village for  
months now. Shippo, go fetch Inuyasha. We are going  
to need his help to catch the culprit."   
  
Shippo nods and runs towards the Goshinboku.   
Kaede, Miroku, Sango and Kirara follow the villager back  
to her hut. 


	3. The meat thief

Shippo skidded to a stop in front of the Goshinboku.   
Looking up, he could see Inuyasha in his normal position,  
legs crossed, arms in his sleeves with tetseiga over his  
shoulder.  
  
"Inuyasha!" The little kitsune yelled up the aged  
tree.  
  
"Nani." He continued to stare strait ahead.  
  
"Someone's meat supply was stolen last night. We  
need your help to track down the demon responsible."  
  
"Keh." He mumbled as he jumped out of his tree.  
  
Shippo quietly jumped onto his spot on Inuyasha's  
shoulder as they walked towards town.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
When they arrived at the hut, Miroku, Sango and  
Kaede were already having a look inside.  
  
  
Inuyasha immediately stopped when he took a step  
inside the hut. Raising his head to the air, he sniffed a  
couple of times.  
  
'That send....the smell of a storm.' Shippo falls off his  
shoulder as Inuyasha sniffs around to find the trail of the  
sent.  
  
Miroku turns to see what Inuyasha was doing.   
"Inuyasha? What are.. you... doing?" He asked, but  
Inuyasha already ran out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Inuyasha swiftly jumps from tree to tree following the  
sent. The trail ended at a cave in the side of a rock  
formation. As he walked over to the cave's entrance, a  
low growl drifted out of the darkness. Every step  
Inuyasha took, the growling got closer and fiercer.  
  
Out of the dark cave, two stormy eyes shone like  
cloudy sapphires. Slowly, the beast stepped onto the  
light. The demons black fur shone in the morning light.   
In front of Inuyasha stood a Taiga-Youkai. This Taiga was  
different from any of the others he had ever seen or  
heard of. It was not one of the common oranges, nor  
the rare white. What stood before him was a black  
Taiga with darker ebony stripes.  
  
The beast's lips curved into a snarl. exposing its  
pearly white fangs.  
  
"Who are you, beast and why do I recognize your  
sent from the well." Inuyasha demands.  
  
The demon just growled in response crouching ready  
to pounce,   
  
"So you can't speak?" He smirks. "I accept you  
challenge."  
  
Inuyasha lept at the tiger who stood its ground in  
front of him.  
  
"Sankongetsusou!!" He yelled as he swipes his claws  
through the air and into the ground causing a creator to  
form, sending a cloud of dust into the air.  
  
When the dust cleared, the tiger was no where in  
sight.  
  
Inuyasha growls and looked around, sniffing the air.  
  
In a flash of fur, the tiger jumps past Inuyasha, slicing  
deep into his left arm.  
  
"Temme..." He snarls. 'Damnit that demon's fast.'   
He thought to himself.  
  
A small pink glass ball falls out of the rip in his kimono  
and rolls a little away from him.  
  
Before Inuyasha could blink, the tiger pounces on it,  
taking it in its mouth.  
  
After the demon had the glass ball in its mouth, it  
stopped, almost as if it were frozen in place.  
  
Inuyasha looked at the taiga confused. This had  
never happened before when a demon took the Shikon  
no tama.  
  
The demon started to snap out of it. She looked  
around dazed and confused.  
  
'Now's my chance.' Inuyasha thought and jumped  
forward.  
  
Digging his claws into his shoulder, Inuyasha shouts,   
"CLAWS OF BLOOD!" He brings down his clawed hand  
as little red crescents fly towards the stunned demon.  
  
Still slightly dazed, the Taiga looks up at the sound.   
Using her cat reflexes, she jumps up missing most of the  
'blades.'  
  
She roared in pain as some still cut deep into her  
stomach hitting her from the side, causing her to drop  
the glass ball and fall to the ground bairly contious.  
  
Inuyasha flicks the blood off his claws and walks over  
to the fallen demon smirking. He kneels down and picks  
up the glass ball from in front of her face.  
  
Getting back up, he starts to walk away. At the  
edge of the trees, he stops and looks back over his  
shoulder.  
  
The tiger was looking up to him with sad, pain filled  
eyes. There was another emotion he couldn't quite  
place.... was it... recognition? That emotion wasn't there  
before she got a hold of the Shikon no tama, what did it  
do her her?   
  
As Inuyasha stood there thinking to himself, the  
Taiga's eyes roll back and falls into uncontiousness.  
  
Inuyasha stood there for a brief moment more, before  
muttering a 'Feh' and walking back over to the demon.   
Carefully lifting her up, he takes her back to the village. 


	4. The Striped Beast of Shadow

Naka De Taiga  
Chapter 3  
The Striped Beast of Shadow   
  
As Inuyasha walked down the well worn path to the  
village, he was greeted by the small kitsune.  
  
"Inuyasha where did u run off to? Is that the demon  
who robed the village?" He continued his barrage of  
questions. Inuyasha simply ignored him as usual and  
continued walking.  
  
Once reaching Kaede's hut, he walked inside and  
placed the wounded demon on a futon in a room in the  
back of the small hut.  
  
"Kaede-baba, get in here, I found the demon."  
  
"Inuyasha, you need to learn some respect." She  
scolds coming through the door. "Now where is this  
demon?"  
  
Inuyasha just pointed over to the taiga and sat  
down against the wall.  
  
Kaede inspects the tiger closely and bandages her  
wounds.   
  
  
"That is all i can do at the moment, but i better put a  
rosary on her so she doesn't hurt anyone." She states  
and starts the chant. Soon a blue pair of rosary beads  
appeared in the ruffles of the fur of her neck.  
  
"Inuyasha, I am putting you in charge of this demon.   
When she wakes up just say a word to complete the  
spell and it will cause her to fall to the ground. I must go  
back to that villagers hut and inform them of the news."   
Kaede stated walking out of the room.  
  
Inuyasha just muttered his usual response, "Feh..."   
and sat watching the injured demon thinking to himself,  
as day turned to night and the villagers slept.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning the sun rose over the horizon as it  
usually did. As the morning light seeped into the window  
of Kaede's little back room, the demon started to stur.  
  
Most of the tigers wounds healed over night, only the  
deepest cuts still remained. She started to stretch her stiff  
muscles but soon realizes her mistake and growled  
opening her stormy eyes.  
  
"So, your finally awake." Inuyasha stated from  
across the room.  
  
The demons ears perked up at the sound and she  
turned her head in the direction of the hanyou. She   
titles her head slightly and moves her mouth as if trying  
to speak, but only growling sounds emitted from her  
muzzle.  
  
Looking frustrated, the demon growls deep in her  
throught and begins to raise from her place on the futon.   
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Inuyasha warned  
as the demon started to take a few shaky steps in his  
direction.  
  
The taiga-youkai ignored his warning and continued  
to walk across the room.  
  
When the youkai was halfway across the room to  
where Inuyasha was, he mutter a word to cause the spell  
to activate. "Stay." He stated causing the rosary to  
glow and the tiger to fall to the ground painfully. The  
demon roared in pain as Kaede, Sango, Miroku, and  
Shippo to rush into the room.  
  
As the spell wore off, the tiger rose and sat back on  
her haunches shaking her head free of dirt. Shooting a  
death glare at Inuyasha she growled again.  
  
Once she turned to the others her mood changed  
instantly. Slowly raising to her feet she tries to 'speak'  
again, only to fail once more.  
  
"Who are you, demon and why have you come to  
this village?"  
  
The demon looks deep in thought for a few minutes.   
She sits back down and looks around the small room.   
Spotting a stick across the room, she raises and walks  
over and picks it up in her mouth, then returns to her  
previous place in the center of the room.   
  
"She seems not to be able to speak." Kaede states  
as the demon starts to carve into the dirt floor of the hut  
with the stick.  
  
When she was finished, every one gasped in shock,  
staying silent for a long time. For on the ground were the  
words, 'It's me, Kagome.'   
  
Inuyasha froze after he read the words on the floor in  
utter shock. He looks back up at the demon who looks  
back at him with saddened eyes.  
  
When the silence started to ware off, Shippo  
carefully walked up to the tiger and asked. "Is it really  
you Kagome?"   
  
Shifting her gaze towards the little kitsune, she smiles  
a motherly smile and nods her head.  
  
Sheppo's eyes tear up and he jumps up, hugging  
the Taiga-youkai. She smiles and raps a large paw  
around the crying kitsune clinging to her neck.   
  
Once the little kitsune calmed down some, Kaede  
spoke up. "I'm going to look through my scrolls and see  
if there is a spell that i can use for you to speak. I'll be  
back later." She states and walks out of the room.  
  
Sango walks over to her once human friend as she  
lowered the kitsune to the floor on her paw. "Oh  
Kagome, we've all missed you so much. We  
thought...you were....dead or something." Her eyes start  
to moisten but she refuses to let them fall. Miroku walks  
up behind her and kneels as well, wrapping an arm  
around Sango's shoulder.  
  
Something suddenly click in Kagome's head. She had to  
hurry back to the cave. 'Yosei.' She thought and looked up at  
her friends. Thinking quickly she scribbles a 'be back' in the dirt  
and took off out the door, sending papers flying. Inuyasha lept  
up and raced after her. Being far slower, the others ran outside  
with Kirara and look in the direction their friends disappeared. 


	5. A Cub?!?

Naka de Taiga  
Chapter 4  
A Cub??  
  
Once she arrived at her cave, there was another  
taiga-youkai sniffing around the entrance.  
  
Flattening her ears, Kagome let out a warning growl  
and readied herself for a battle. The larger orange tiger  
turned in her direction sending her a smug look, causing  
Kagome to roll her eyes.  
  
'Get away from here now before I am forced to  
make you.' Kagome growled in her well mastered taiga  
language.  
  
'Oh, you think you can make me?' The other tiger  
laughs walking towards her.   
  
Once he was close enough, Kagome roared and  
lashed out with her claws causing four read streaks to  
form on the male tigers cheek.  
  
His eyes widened slightly and he growled, flattening  
his ears as well. 'How dare you strike me.'  
  
Kagome started to feel her weakness from the  
wounds and backed up slightly, closing her eyes as the  
other demon raised clawed paw to striker her.  
  
"Shenkongetesusou!!"  
  
When Kagome opened her eyes she sees Inuyasha  
protectively standing over her, growling and snarling in  
the fleeing tiger's direction.  
  
"Daijobu?" He asks when he turns around and look  
down at her.  
  
She nods back at him with a thankful look.  
  
A soft 'mewing' at the entrance of the cave,  
brought them to look in that direction.  
  
A little white tiger cub ran out of the cave's mouth  
and up to Kagome, rubbing against her front leg.   
Kagome smiled down at the cub and nuzzled it with her  
muzzle motherly.  
  
Inuyasha's eyes widened and his jaw dropped to  
the ground. 'S-s-she h-has a-a c-c-c-cub???' His ears  
droop at the thought. Without Kagome noticing, he  
took off into the woods towards his favorite spot,  
Go-shinboku.  
  
Kagome looks up noticing he left. 'Where did he  
go? Oh well, we should head back to Kaede's. Its  
almost lunch time.' She thinks as she picks the cub up by  
the scruff of its neck and carries it back to Kaede's.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Walking into Kaede's hut, she sets the cub down  
next to Sheppo. The two immediacy become friends  
and begin to play. The others gave her a questioning  
gaze but they were interrupted by Kaede walking into  
the main room.  
  
"I found a incantation that will grant you human  
speech, Kagome. Have a seat by the fire."  
  
Kagome does what she is told and Kaede gathers  
some incense and powder, walking over to her.   
  
Lighting the incense, she starts to chant in front of  
Kagome. In the middle of the incantation, she throws  
the powder on her, causing her to sneeze.  
  
When Kaede finished she put out the incense and  
walked back over to Kagome. "Can you speak now  
Kagome? Try it out." She asked.  
  
Kagome licked her lips and tried to speak.   
"K-k-konnichiwa m-mina-s-san." It was a little scratchy at  
first, but after speaking a little it softened out to her  
normal sweet voice.  
  
"Kagome! you can talk!" Sango cried out happily  
and hugged her friend around her neck.  
  
Once everyone settled down she told them what  
happened to her. When she was finished, She stood up.  
  
"Its getting pretty late, I'm going to go find Inuyasha  
ok? Ja." She said and ran out at full speed, causing the  
doorflap to almost fly off its 'hinges.'  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Reaching the Go-shinboku, she looked up into the  
branches, her sharp vision catching bits of red on a thick  
branch towards the top. Stretching out her now healed  
side, she lept into the tree and onto the branch above  
Inuyasha.  
  
"Nante" Inuyasha says looking strait ahead.  
  
"Where did you go earlier?" She asked curiously.  
  
"None of your business wench." He mumbled his  
usual remark.  
  
"Was it because of Yosei?" She asked peering down  
at him.  
  
"Keh."  
  
Kagome couldn't help but laugh at this. He thought  
that Yosei was her cub and was jelous of it.  
  
"Shut up wench!" He shouts siting up from where he  
was leaning against the tree.  
  
"Inuyasha, Yosei is not my cub." She stated smiling  
down at him.  
  
"N-nani?" He blinks in confusion.  
  
"I rescued her from another demon months ago. I  
still have all of my memory since i was turned into a  
demon."   
  
"How did you get changed into a demon anyway?"   
He asks recovering.  
  
"He called himself Mouko, he looked to be a  
taiga-youkai. He was at the well when i got there with a  
gang of tiger demons in tiger form. He said he wanted  
revenge for something and turned me into what I am  
now." She explained.  
  
"Mouko, I've heard of him before. He is a  
Taiga-Youkai who studied the magick of transformation  
and mastered it. But I dont know what his 'revenge'  
would be. Maybe he's after the Shikon no tama or  
something."  
  
"Possibly." Kagome looks thoughtful.  
  
They sat there in silence as darkness took hold of the  
land. After a while Kagome fell asleep on he perch  
above Inuyasha.  
  
Once her breathing evened out, Inuyasha looks up  
at her. 'Gomen ne kagome... I wasnt there to protect  
you. We will find a way to change you back to your old  
self...' He thought to himself as he to drifted into his  
dreams.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning Kagome rose with the sun. Looking  
down, she saw Inuyasha was still asleep. Smirking she  
carefully jumps down to his branch. Slowly stalking up to  
his sleeping figure she stops a mere inch from his nose,  
causing it to twitch.  
  
When he opened his eyes groggily, she growled  
ferouiously. Inuyasha, still half asleep, falls off his branch  
wide eyed.  
  
Regaining his sences at the feeling of falling,  
Inuyasha grabs onto the nearest branch, stopping his  
desent.  
  
"BITCH!" He yells back up the tree. Kagome just  
stared down at him giggling madly, this made Inuyasha  
growl louder. "Shut up wench!" He swings himself up  
onto the branch and lept up the tree towards the  
laughing demon.  
  
Kagome smirks at him. "Think you can catch me,  
dog-boy?" She teases and took off through the trees.  
  
Inuyashas growls louder and chases after her. When  
Kagome reached the last tree next to a field she jumped  
from it and into the tall grass in the field, hiding from  
view.  
  
Inuyasha jumps in after her, losing sight of her in the  
long grass. "Where did you go wench! Get out her  
now!" He barked looking around through the grass.  
  
Silently circling around the steaming hanyou,  
Kagome crept up from behind him. As Inuyasha turned  
around she lept up causing him to tumble to the ground,  
pinned.   
  
Inuyasha glowerd up at the giggling demon still  
pinning him to the ground.   
  
"I win." She states getting off of him smirking.  
  
"Keh." He snorts at he stands back up facing away  
from her. Turning his head slightly, he looks back over his  
shoulder at Kagome who is now catching her breath  
from laughing so hard. "We all really missed you,  
Kagome." He said softly.  
  
Kagome stopped and looked up at him. 'I didnt  
know he could speak in such a voice.' She thought.   
Shaking her head clear she gave him one of her warm  
smiles.  
  
Realizing he said something right, he smiled back one of  
his rare smiles. "Lets head back, I can smell them cooking  
breakfast." He stated. Kagome nodded and they walked  
back to Kaede's hut. 


	6. Begining the search

The next few days consisted of rest and catching up on what happened to everyone over the past year. At night Inu-yasha would sleep in his usual spot in the Go-shenboku with Kagome on the branch above him.   
  
After a long talk with Kaede, the group desided to head west in-search of Mouko and his 'gang' of taiga-youkai.  
  
They headed down a westward road for a few hours before stopping for lunch. The morning had been quiet, for the most part. Miroku and Shippo headed down to the nearby steam to catch some fish for their meal as the others sat around a small clearing close to the bank.  
  
Sango sat, her back to a large rock shining her large boomerange. Kirara, in her false form, was running around playing with Yosei. A few feet away from them, Kagome was lounging on a rock basking in the sun. Above her Inuyasha sat in the only tree in the clearing watching her thinking to himself, a thing he seemed to be doing more and more over the past year.  
  
Kagome lazily watches the two demons run around playing a game that looked almost like tag with her head resting on her front paws.   
  
"Kagome!!!!" Shippo shouts as he bounces up the bank with a fish hanging on a line trailing after him. Kagome rose to a sitting position as the little kitsune jumped onto the rock infront of her. "Look what I caught!!" He states proudly as he holds up the fish that is as big as him, puffing out his chest.  
  
Kagome couldn't help but laugh at the sight. She lifts her paw up and ruffles the kits hair. "Great job Shippo. That fish will make a good meal eh?"  
  
"Yeah!" He nodded and bounced over to a fire pit Sango started preparing. Shippo then runs off to play with the other demons in the clearing.  
  
A few minutes later a clinking of rings signals his enterence as Miroku walks up the bank with a bunch of fish tied to a string slung over his shoulder. He walks over to the now burning fire and sets his fish down next to Shippos'.  
  
Sango detatches one of the fish and takes out a small dagger from her belt and starts to clean it. She stopped in mid slice at a sadly familliar feeling, causing a vain to pop out of her head.  
  
"Houshi-sama. If you do not remove your hand i will pound you into the ground." She gripped her dagger tighter.  
  
Miroku laughs nervously. "But I am mearly showing my affection."  
  
Sango blushes and grabs her boomerang. "Then stop groping me and find a better way to show it!!" She smacks him repeatedly over the head with Hiraikotsu.  
  
From her spot on the rock Kagome couldnt help but laugh. Inuyasha dropped out of his position in the tree to crouch beside her.  
  
"They seem alot closer then the last time i saw them." She watches the couple.  
  
Inuyasha nodds. "Yeah, they have become closer over the past year. But Miroku hasn't wised up any." He laughs aswell.  
  
After a few good wacks, Sango goes back to cleaning their food. Miroku, on the other hand, lay on the ground, twitching with a large lump on his head. 


End file.
